Prague’s outdoor “art” is mostly composed of its stunning architectural variety and preservation. Gothic, Baroque, Art Nouveau, Cubism…the list goes on. Public art doesn’t have much of a tradition here, so we were quite pleased when this new installation was put up in Franz Kafka Square, right next to Old Town Square.

Artist Jiří David took more than 85,000 keys (donated by the public) to put together this 6 meter high statue. The piece was designed in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, and spells out “revoluce” which means revolution in Czech. The reason keys were used was because during the overthrow of the Communist regime in 1989, Prague residents stood on Wenceslas Square and jingled their keys; indicating it was time for the current government to go.